Universalising water and sanitation coverage in urban areas: From global targets to local realities in Dar es Salaam, and back

Global targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals and associated monitoring play a key role in supporting efforts to move towards universal access to water and sanitation. Reflecting on Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this paper demonstrates how global monitoring often fails to reflect and support local efforts to improve water and sanitation in low-income settlements. Locally generated water and sanitation data and perceptions of progress can reveal important realities of water and sanitation provision that global monitoring inadvertently conceals. Global targets and indicators need to be balanced with locally grounded knowledge to usefully support efforts to move towards universal access.